Academic Grades and Credits

Students should be given better grades and extra credits for their creative achievements, inside and outside the classroom, because creative achievements are much more important than academic proficiency. It is criminal to give better grades and extra credits to academically proficient students, and to deny them to students who have and are making creative contributions to the advancement of knowledge and culture, just because the students are not academically proficient. I am inclined to think that academics are more interested in academic proficiency than in the survival of the human species. Most people have a stupid fascination with academic brilliance, but, in most cases of academic brilliance, there is absolutely nothing creative or original about it.

Academic and cultural creativity and originality are much more important than academic proficiency. Therefore, the academic grades and credits of creative and original students should be boosted, because, otherwise, the nation that does not give better grades and extra credits to students for their creative and original achievements inside and outside the classroom are shooting themselves in the foot and retarding their economic and social development, not to mention their national security.

The above is the only major change to the academic grading and credit system that I would make, because creativity and originality should be given the edge in the academic grading and credit system, and not academic proficiency, although academic proficiency is also important, but it is less important than creativity and originality. Too many countries are shooting themselves in the foot by not boosting the academic grades and credits of their creative and original students.

Countries that are falling behind should be the most eager to embrace this form of academic grading and credit system, because they have the most to lose by not embracing this academic grading and credit system. Countries that adopt the above academic grading and credit system will have a competitive advantage in the global economy and in national security, because the above academic grading system does have far reaching consequences for the balance of power in the world, and the economic well-being of countries throughout the world.

I believe that the academic grades and credits of truly talented students should be boosted, regardless of whether the talents of the students are in academics or not, because what is wrong with having a talent without being good at academics? Prejudice against students who have talent, but who are not good at academics is elitists and contrary to the economic and national security concerns of the countries involved. Academic elitism is a curse for most countries, and not a blessing, especially when most academically nonproficient geniuses are left out of the equation.

Keith N. Ferreira
http://philophysics.com